It is the eve of World War II in a remote area of Finland. A man in a German SS uniform is being chained to a rock. He is Veiko (Haapasalo), a Finnish soldier who is being punished for displaying reluctance in battle. He must dislodge the pin from the rock before his food and water rations run out. Ivan (Bychkov), a disgraced Soviet captain, is injured in bomb attack en route to trial. Ivan is discovered by Anni (Juuso), a Lapp widow still working a reindeer farm. Her husband went to war and never returned. Veiko stumbles upon the farm soon after freeing himself, but still needs to be freed from the leg iron.
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Once together, the three discover they have no language in common. They struggle with their language barriers and percieved hostilities -- Ivan thinks Veiko is a German because of the uniform he was forced to wear and calls him "Fascist" while Veiko goes into long dissertations about literature and his pacifism. Anni, however, has not had a man in four years and is longing for a physical relationship. Both men fall in love with her. The men help her on the farm while they are deciding what their next course of action should be -- stay or return home, if they still have one.
Languages spoken in the film are German, Russian, Finnish and Lapp. All of which are subtitled.
There are beautiful vistas caputured with great cinematography.
The review of this Movie prepared by ldpaulson
